WHEN Kim Kardashian asks you to wear her pants, you know you are back in the big time.
Usher has become the face – and body – of Skims, the underwear brand founded by reality TV star Kim.
Stripped to his pants, the 45-year-old R&B singer can be seen suggestively squeezing a juicy peach in a series of new images for the brand.
It comes ahead of Usher’s highly anticipated Super Bowl half-time performance in Las Vegas this weekend.
Fans have been sent into overdrive at the news he’ll be bringing out Justin Bieber as a special guest, after Usher teased it would be “someone unexpected”.
Justin was just 13 when eight-time Grammy award-winning singer Usher signed him to his record label, helping to propel the youngster to superstardom.
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But since revealing in 2022 he was suffering from a condition that causes facial paralysis, Justin, 29, has kept a low profile.
Earlier this month he made a surprise return to the stage for the first time in over a year.
Headlining the Super Bowl halftime show – which regularly attracts more than 100 million viewers – is considered one of the biggest gigs on the planet.
It heralds a major comeback for Usher whose career has somewhat slumped after finding himself in a string of scandal, from cheating allegations, a messy divorce – and to even a sexual abuse lawsuit.
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Usher, real name Usher Raymond VI, has barely aged a day since bursting onto the music scene as a baby-faced teenager two decades ago.
Born in Dallas, Texas, his dad, Usher Raymond III, left when he was just a one-year-old.
The youngster later moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, with his mother Jonnetta Patton and step-dad, and it was here he honed his singing skills in the local church choir.
Aged 13, he competed in TV talent show Star Search, which led to an introduction to record executive L.A. Reid, who signed the teen to his label.
In a candid interview last year, Usher admitted: “I failed at everything else.
“I never stopped trying until I figured out this is what I want to do.”
Usher released his self-titled debut album aged just 16 in 1994.
His first three albums sold more than six million copies, but it was his fourth, Confessions, which launched him into super stardom.
His sexy style of R&B helped shift 20million copies – but fame came at a cost.
I failed at everything else. I never stopped trying until I figured out this is what I want to do
Usher
He said in 2010: “I don’t have a private life – that’s the catch.
“What R&B music is, and what it always has been, is taking an emotional experience and singing it passionately. Privacy is something that just isn’t there.
“Every other day something’s written about you, but you can’t get caught up in it.
“I try to live my life, and whatever is said in the press, I think my music will allow me to address certain things with people… my music basically sets the record straight.”
Two years later he made his Broadway debut when he took over the lead of Billy Flynn in the musical Chicago, causing a spike in ticket sales.
But he was forced to bow out after two months after contracting strep throat.
His absence reportedly cost the production more than £315,000 in refunds.
As well as a best-selling fragrance line, he bagged a string of endorsement deals with the likes of Belvedere Vodka, Pepsi, and Remy Martin.
First marriage
In 2007, Usher married his stylist, Tameka Foster, seven years his senior, and she gave birth to their son Usher “Cinco” V, now 16, later that year.
He set up his record label, Raymond Braun Media Group, in 2008 in partnership with talent agent Scooter Braun, with pop star Justin their first signee.
That same year Usher released his album Here I Stand – but lyrics hailing the virtue of monogamy and family appeared to anger his largely female fanbase.
Tameka bore the brunt, saying in an interview: “People say it’s my fault he made all those songs. It was saddening.
“For a man to find a mate and profess their love publicly, and then for fans to be mad at him just shows the immaturity in so many of them.”
Usher defended his wife, saying: “Here I Stand was very specific to where I was in my life. I don’t think everyone was there.”
In 2009, two months after giving birth to their second son, Naviyd, now 15, Tameka suffered a cardiac arrest and almost died after flying to Brazil for a liposuction procedure.
She was put in a medically induced coma and recovered but in June that year, Usher filed for divorce.
Messy split
The singer won primary custody of their sons during an ugly battle, which saw him accuse his ex of spitting at his then girlfriend Grace Miguel.
Tameka later claimed Usher had an affair with her bridesmaid during their two-year marriage.
Speaking in a 2012 TV interview, she said: “He admitted to sleeping with one of the two. It was a very disappointing revelation. I had suspected it for some time.
“I hate to say it, but I somewhat empathise with her… he fell into somewhat of a trap.
“I think that she got very close to him as a result of being my friend and I feel like he used it to his advantage.”
He admitted to sleeping with one of the two. It was a very disappointing revelation. I had suspected it for some time
Tameka Foster
There was further controversy in 2013 when their eldest son nearly drowned while swimming under the supervision of one of Usher’s aunts, prompting Tameka to file an emergency custody motion, but a judge ruled in the singer’s favour.
Usher continued to release music and joined The Voice in the US as a coach in 2013.
He said in a 2014 interview: “Part of the reason why I did The Voice was so people would get a chance to get a different perception of me.”
And he added: “I don’t feel that I’ve got to sell out this tour, or sell crazy amounts of albums, or have the number one single. It’s great to have all those things, but that isn’t what I’m doing.”
Usher went on to tie the knot for a second time with life coach Grace in 2015, but they divorced three years later.
Bizarre sex scandal
The pop icon found himself at the centre of yet another scandal after he was sued by three people – two women and one man – who accused him of not informing them about an alleged herpes infection before engaging in sexual contact.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, contained charges including sexual battery, fraud and emotional distress.
Singer Laura Helm claimed she had caught herpes from Usher, but she dropped her £15million lawsuit in 2019 after it was reported they had reached an “amicable resolution”.
Another woman, Quantasia Sharpton, claimed she had “sexual contact” with the singer after going to see him in concert for her 19th birthday in 2014.
She claimed that while she didn’t contract herpes from Usher, he “exposed her to it”.
Usher’s legal team filed a response to the lawsuit denying the allegations, and the star allegedly claimed he did not sleep with Quantasia because “she’s not his type”.
The 21-year-old and mum-of-three dropped her lawsuit in 2019, but it is not clear if any settlement was reached.
It came after the performer reportedly settled another lawsuit for £800,000 in 2012 with a former lover after he reportedly infected her with herpes.
Leaked court documents, which came to light in 2017, claimed the star knew he had the incurable STI before repeatedly having unprotected sex with the celebrity stylist.
New love
Usher went on to find love with Jenn Goicoechea, a senior vice president of A&R at Epic Records.
They have two children, Sovereign Bo, three, and Sire Castrello, two.
The past few years have signalled a return to the spotlight for the singer.
He went on to land not one, but two Vegas residencies from 2021, which reportedly grossed more than £78billion.
Last December Usher – who has been given the keys to the city – closed out his 100th and final sold-out Vegas show as well as putting on a 12-day Paris residency, marking his triumphant return.
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In 2021 he started a 14-show residency at Caesars Palace, which reportedly grossed more than £10million.
Speaking to Vogue magazine earlier this year, Usher – who has just released his ninth album, Coming Home – said of his much hyped Super Bowl performance: “It has to be perfect.”
